Do you read book reviews? Whose do you trust? Do they affect your reading habits? Your buying habits?
I frequently read book reviews—often if I’m reading something, I’ll stop and read reviews on Amazon or LibraryThing to see how other people feel about the book. I do read reviews of books before I read them, but not quite as often—I’m trying to limit my TBR list for the moment. I don’t go and buy the book right away, but I’ll let it stew on my TBR list for a while on LibraryThing before I take the plunge.
What I’ve found with reviews is that often it’s the three-star reviews that are the best—they talk about both the good and bad aspects of a book, instead of simply raving about it or having an ax to grind about it. I also pay close attention to reviews if the book I’m looking at isn’t quite so well-known or widely read.
Comments
I'm having to limit my to-read list a bit too, or I'll drown in books! (Not a bad way to die, though...) :)
Hope you'll stop by and say hello!
Cindy at Cindy's Book Club
Here's my answer: http://abookishaffair.blogspot.com/2011/06/booking-through-thursday-5-reading-book.html
And, I agree about the 3 star reviews. They're usually the fairest and most honest. I really question books that only have 5 stars and nothing else. I'm always doubtful that a book is really that good.
2 Kids and Tired Books
This is surprisingly helpful on TripAdvisor too - you read some reviews which really give a sense of an ignorant, stuck-up, disrespectful individual shouting loudly in English at people in another country and getting angry that they aren't getting 5* service in a 2* hotel...